Skip to main content

Drink This: The Balvenie Single Barrel 15

drink this the balvenie single barrel 15 3324 original
Image used with permission by copyright holder
What happened when the distillers at The Balvenie, which is located — in the burgh of Dufftown in Moray, Scotland, that’s in the Speyside region at the north end of the country—  fused together oak, spirit and time for 15 years? The Balvenie Single Barrel 15! Exceptional whiskey was matured exclusively matured in a European oak sherry butt for at least 15 years. That’s the same casks that produce the Spanish fortified wine Oloroso Sherry “Malt Master David Stewart hand selects each barrel for its flavor of dried fruits, nuts and spice,” says The Balvenie website. “No more than 650 hand-numbered bottles are drawn from each sherry butt, making every bottling unique and unrepeatable.”

At 47.8 percent ABV, The Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Barrel packs quite a punch, making for a nose filled with dried fruits and a gentle nuttiness. Don’t forget to take a deep whiff of that before you take your sip. The taste brings up notes of elegant oak and subtle spice with a long, sherried finish with barley. Take it back. Enjoy it. Remember it.  The casks give it a richer flavor and a deeper color than a typical whiskey. Now all you need to do is find a bottle, but word on the street is that they’re disappearing quickly. For $100, it’s not bad at all if you need a nice drink for yourself after a long, hard day at the office, or a little something after dinner. After all, what’s better than a glass of neat whiskey to cap off your day?

For more information, visit us.thebalvenie.com.


Editors' Recommendations

Ann Binlot
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…
What foods are high in iron? These staples will help you live a healthier life
Add these high-iron foods to your shopping list today
Ribeye caps topped with garlic and herbs cooked in a cast iron pan over charcoal.

What foods are high in iron? We all know that iron is important for a healthy, balanced diet, but did you know you can find two different kinds of iron in food: heme and non-heme. Your body can absorb iron from heme (animal-based) food better than from non-heme (plant-based) food sources. Where can you find heme food sources? Read on to find out about foods high in iron.

If you eat a plant-based diet, you’ll get a lot of non-heme types of iron. As a result, your body might need a bit of help to absorb it properly. Sometimes vitamin C can aid with the absorption of plant-based kinds of iron. Regularly consume both plant and animal-based sources of iron to get the best of both for your body. 
What is iron?

Read more
The Macallan, Bentley serve up a single malt Scotch whisky worth more than a car
The Macallan and Bentley mean luxury
The Macallan

When it comes to luxury, The Macallan and Bentley are two of the biggest names in the world. While one is a single malt Scotch whisky brand and one is a car company, they both carry a certain, fancy weight. It only makes sense that the two brands would collaborate for a special bottle of Scotch whisky. This is likely because a whisky-powered car is more science fiction than reality.
What does the new whisky look like?

It's called The Macallan Horizon, and its bottle was created in collaboration with British automobile brand Bentley Motors. It was designed to meld the worlds of single malt scotch whisky and the sleek, elegant car brand. The result is a horizontal (hence the name) bottle crafted with a breathtaking 180-degree twist.

Read more
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more